Wheel.



PATENTED MAY 29, 1906,

A. J. ROBERTSON.

WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED 0016,1905,

Wneeses:

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ARCHIBALD J. ROBERTSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PATENT onrron.

Patented May 29, 1906.

Application filed October 6,1905. Serial No. 281.646.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AROHIBALD J. RoBERT- soN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in wheels; and the objects thereof in general are substantially the same as those.

set forth in Letters Patent Nos. 760,348 and 760,349, issued to me on. the 17th day of May, 1904-namely, to provide a vehicle-wheel which shall be so constructed as to increase the effectiveness of the propelling force for the vehicle applied at the axle of the wheel.

Afurther object of my present improvement is to simplify and render the construction of the wheel such that certain parts thereof may be removed and replaced without detaching the wheel from the axle; and it consists in the various details thereof and in the combi nation of parts as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional View of a wheel embodying the invention, taken on a line at right angles to the face of the wheel; and Fig. 2 is an outer face view thereof, showing the parts in their normal positions.

Like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

The reference-numeral 5 designates the body portion or inner rotating element of the wheel, which is provided with a central opening 6 for the reception of the axle, upon which it may be mounted in any well-known way. In order to strengthen said portion and at the same time to lessen its weight and economize in the amount of material used, it is provided on its inner surface with a series of radiallyextending ribs 7 and a number of openings 8, arranged in a circle around a hub 9 or central portion of said part, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. One surface of the body or inner portion 5 of the wheel, usually the outer surface thereof, by which is meant that surface which is presented outwardly from between the rails of a railway-track, is formed with an annular recess or cut-away part 10, which extends from the periphery of the portion 5 inwardly to a suitable distance and terminates with an outwardly-beveled shoulder 11 at its inner portion.

As shown in Fig. 1, the peripheral portion of the recess 10 is vertical with respect to the portion 5 or at a right angle to the periphery of said portion 5, while its intermediate portion is outwardly beveled or inclined, as at 12, and its inner portion again at a right angle to the periphery of the part 5, as shown at 13. Closely fitted in the recess or cutaway part 10 is an annular plate 14, which has its inner surface formed to correspond with the intermediate and inner portions 12 and 13, respectively, of said recess and also has its inner periphery inwardly beveled to correspond with the beveled shoulder 11 on the body 5 or inner portion of the wheel.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the plate 14 is provided with a peripheral groove 15, the lateral wall of which is in parallelism with the vertical peripheral portion of the recess 10, in which the plate 14 is located and which may be firmly held in place by means of a series of bolts 16 and nuts 17, which bolts are passed through suitable openings in the body 5 and plate 14 thereon.

Loosely surrounding the body or inner portion 5 of the wheel is the outer rotating element or rim 18, which has on its periphery a flange 19 and is provided on its inner periphery with an inwardly-extending rib or tongue 20, the sides of whichare at right angles to the inner periphery of the rim 18 and in parallelism with each other. As shown, this tongue or rib fits snugly in the groove 15 be tween the plate 14 and the peripheral portion of the wall of the recess 10 in the body of the wheel. It will be understood that as the outer circumference of the inner portion-5 is less than the inner circumference of the rim 18 a certain amount of play will be provided for the inner portion with respect to the outer portion and that the former will therefore be permitted to travel upon the inner periphery of the latter and that the only resting-place for the body or inner portion 5 will be on the inner periphery of the outer part 18 and when power is applied to propel the vehicle the inner part 5 will be moved in advance of the vertical center of the outer part, whereby the load will be thrown forward of the wheelbase, thus utilizing the weight of the vehicle to assist its own propulsion. While power is applied, the load or weight of the vehicle will base line when the vehicle is at rest, and the inclined dotted line 22 in said figure represents the direction in which the weight of the vehicle will be moved with respect to the wheel-base when power is applied to the axle to move the latter to the right.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings it will be readily understood, and clearly seen that the inner and outer rotating elements 5 and 18, respectively, will have separate axes of rotation and differential speeds, but will cooperate in supporting the weight of the load, the inner one of said elements supporting- -the axle and the weight upon the other element and the latter providing the wheel-base with respect to the track. Itiis also apparent that the outer peripheries of the inner element and the annular plate 14 will contact with the tread portion or inner periphery of the "outer element or rim 18, thus leaving a spacebetween the inner periphery of the rib or tongue 20 and the horizontal wall of the recess 15, thus reducing the friction, as well as compensating for the wear incident to the parts. By'providing the inner element with the annular recess 10 of the form set forth to receive the annular plate 14 it is obvious that the strength of said plate willbe augmented and that the strain will be borne by the inner element and also that when itvis desired to remove the rim 18 for repairs or so that a new one can be placed in its stead the same may be done without removing the inner element from the axle. As the wheel comprises two independently-rotating elements, one of which travels or bears upon the other, it is evident that a desirable and beneficial reduction and distribution of the friction between the rails and wheels, especially when rounding a curve, will be effected.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a wheel, the combination with an inner rotating element having in one of its sur faces an annular recess extending from its periphery inwardly, of an annular plate detachably secured to said element in said recess and having a peripheral groove, and an independently-rotatable rim supportin said element and plate against the perip eries thereof.

2. In a wheel, the combination with an inner rotating element having in one of its faces an annular recess extending from its periphery inwardly, of an annular plate detachably secured to said element in said recess and having aperipheral groove, anindependentlyrotatable rim supporting said element and plate against their peripheries, and means for supporting said rim against lateral movement with respect to the inner element. c

3. In a wheel, the combination with an inner rotating element having in one of its surfaces an annular recess extending from its periphery inwardly, of an annular plate detachably secured to said element in said recess and having a peripheral groove, an independently-rotatable rim supporting said element and plate against the peripheries thereof and having on its'mner periphery an inwardly-extending rib to operate in the said groove.

41. In a Wheel, the combination with an inner rotating element having in one of its faces an annular recess extending from its periphery inwardly and terminating with an outwardlybeveled shoulder, the intermediate part of the wall of said recess being outwardly inclined, of an annular plate detachably secured to said element in said recess and having a peripheral groove, the inner periphery and inner surface of said plate being formed to correspond with the inclination of the wall and shoulder of said recess, an independently-rotatable rim supporting said element and plate against their peripheries and having on its inner periphery an inwardlyextending rib to operate in the said groove.

ARCHIBALD J. ROBERTSON.

Witnesses:

CHAS. E. GoRToN, M. A. NYMAN. 

